


Stay

by KeeperofSeeds



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Blanket Permission, MayThe4th Treat, Multi, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Polyamory, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Pre-Threesome, Strangers to Lovers, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23814592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeeperofSeeds/pseuds/KeeperofSeeds
Summary: It had started when Luke got sick. Obi-Wan rushes over to the Lars household, not realizing how one impulsive decision will change the course of his exhile.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Owen Lars/Beru Whitesun
Comments: 6
Kudos: 187
Collections: May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Fanworks Exchange 2020





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EffieAgo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EffieAgo/gifts).



It had already been two long sleepless nights for Beru when she hears the sound of frantic feet come running outside the house. 

She goes to look, making her way up the stairs, thinking it's Owen, or one of the hands, maybe he's hurt, and if he isn't she's going give him a scolding for worrying her and because Luke's finally just fallen into a fitful sleep...but it's not anyone she expected. It's Ben. The one who'd brought Luke to them and disappeared off into the desert. His face and tunic are drenched in sweat and he's breathing heavily.

"Luke" he gets out, and she blinks in surprise. "Is he, did something happen to him?"

"Ben? What are you- No! Well, he's just sick, that's all."

Ben seemed to deflate in relief, putting on hand on his knee to steady himself. "I just felt something strange, and I was-, I had to come check."

She ushers him inside right as Luke wakes back up and starts to fuss. "Have a seat Ben. I'll be right back." She returns with Luke, still fussing and almost as red faced as Ben. She grabs a rag from the kitchen as well as a glass of water and returns to Ben, who takes both gladly.  
"We think it's just an ear infection," Beru says. "He's been miserable the past two days, but hopefully he'll be improving soon."

"I...apologize for barging in," Ben says, dabbing at the sweat on his forehead. "I...may have overreacted."

"You're like Anakin then? You could sense when things are wrong? You can…sense Luke?" she asks and she sees Ben go still. She'd already guessed it, but she wants to hear it from him. 

Owen had his own opinions, based on things Shmi had said over the years, about his own impressions of his step brother, but Beru didn't have his reservations. If Anakin's son was like that, they'd need help. And Beru had a good feeling about Ben. He didn't seem the type to lie to someone's face. And the way he'd looked at Luke before handing him over, like that little boy was his whole world. That wasn't the look of someone out to trick them. That was the look of someone who didn't need to be alone.

After a long moment, Ben finally lowers his head and says, "Yes. I supposed you could put it that way."  
He seems to be bracing himself for her reaction. Strange. Beru merely nods. Then she walks over to him and passes over Luke.

"Owen should be back in an hour or so. Since you came all this way, you can help look after Luke while I start preparing dinner."

* * *

Ben stays for dinner. She wasn't sure he would. To his credit he only looks a little embarrassed when Owen returns from their fields to find him sitting on their couch, with Luke curled against his chest.

Beru readies herself to give her husband a not so subtle kick to the ankle, but Owen holds back from commenting. He holds back all through dinner, and even joins in the polite small talk Beru is mostly carrying on herself.

Afterwards though, Owen's eyes dart from her to Ben, and she can take the hint. She goes to get ready for bed and leaves Owen to speak his mind. He's been mulling over this since Luke was dropped into their laps and deserves a chance to have his say.

* * *

Owen rocks his leg back and forth, waiting for Luke to get used to the motion and start to settle. Ben sits and waits, and Owen would admire his patience, but even in the dim light he could see the concerned furrow of Ben's brow. Well, better just jump in. Owen's never been the kind of man to dance around an issue, and if Ben wants to help he'll need to learn that. 

"Look, Ben." He starts. "Beru and I are glad for the extra help. She was mighty concerned about you after you rode off that day. The desert isn't kind of offworlders. But I've been thinking these past weeks. If you want to be involved in Luke's life, you need to _be_ involved. You can't just show up out of the blue because some sense you had and disappear back into the sands again after. It was strange enough when Anakin did it, but he was family. Whatever you were to him, you brought us his son. You could be part of this family too, if you want." 

"...it could be dangerous for for you," Ben says, voice barely above a whisper. 

"This is Tatooine," Owen replies. "Life here is dangerous. But we choose what risks we want to take. If you truly want to help Luke, that's worth the risk. He deserves to grow up knowing how much he's loved. He deserves to know his family."

Ben jerks back at that, but his eyes drift down to Luke, now curled in Owen's arm.

"You don't have to decide now. Stay. Rest. Just know you'd be more than welcome. Beru already likes you, and my wife has a good sense for people. So stay. Talk with her in the morning. Think things through." 

* * *

Beru feels tired, but optimistic in the morning. Ben had stayed the night and helped her with breakfast that morning as well. Now they were alternating working the small handheld sonic washing machine and she was explaining how things worked around here to Ben. She didn't know where he'd come from but she guessed it was somewhere close to the Core. The things he expected to be avalible. Poor man. He'd be in for a rude awakening if he'd stayed on his own. 

"I didn't realize..." Ben says, blush rising to his face when Beru let out a huff of laughter at his suggestion to take Luke to a medcenter if he wasn't improved in the next day or two. 

"Doctors or med droids are rare here," she admits, "but there are healers of all sorts, and traditions passed down through generations. We aren't helpless. These remedies have helped babies for generations. That doesn't mean it will be easy, but we aren't sitting around doing nothing."

"I didn't mean to imply-" he starts, and she cuts him off. "Oh no, I know you didn't. Not many offworlders realize what Outer Rim life really is. You're either learn fast or pack up ship here." She wonders for a moment if Anakin had talked much about his time here, but it seems rude to pry. Especially so soon after the man's passing.

Ben has gone quiet again. He stares at his hands, twisting the fraying hem of his tunic between them, and Beru realizes what it is he wants. She also has already guessed at how stubborn this man is. How deeply he's cut himself off. Even Owen had noticed his reluctance last night, but she has a good feeling about him, so she is the one to make the offer. Disguised as a question. 

"Will you stay for a while, Ben? I really could use a hand with Luke." He still hesitates, so she pushes harder. "I'm sure he's missed you. Babies are like that you know?"

She can see the moment Ben gives in. His shoulders relax and he closes his eyes for longer than usually before they rise to meet her own. The smile that blooms is so tentative, she can feel her heart swell and she knows she won't want to give this man back up. 

* * *

The hours begin to blur together as Luke continues to fight whatever infection he's picked up. They all take time to help. Owen rocking Luke to sleep, Beru keeping him wrapped and strapped to her chest as she works, hoping the contact and beat of her heart will sooth him, Ben placing sunburnt hands on Luke's small forehead. Trying to encourage his small body to heal itself he'd said. 

Luke frets and fusses and cries, but tincture for fever she's alternating with milk seems to be helping. He's keeping it down at least. 

Dinner that night is stew, and Beru can feel herself starting to nod off over it even as she eats. Owen promises to take the first feeding for Luke and sends her off to bed, reassuring her that he and Ben have it covered. 

Ben insists on spending the night in the chair they've dragged next to Luke's crib (it had been a hand-me-down from the Darklighters, who'd been a much appreciated source of help in those first weeks.) Ben slouches in the chair next to the crib, keeps one ear open as he stays on watch, and Beru only realizes she's slept the whole night through when she wakes to cool bed and the sound of someone rummaging in her kitchen. Owen must have been in on this too she thinks, and mentally promises him a grateful kiss later. Then she rises to get dressed and see how Ben is keeping Luke distracted now. 

* * *

After a simple but filling breakfast, Beru orders Ben into the fresher and tells Owen to set out some new clothes for him to wear. She waves off his protests and takes Luke from Owen, who rises from the kitchen table to steer Ben back down the hall. 

She laughs softly at the trailing end of Owen reassuring Ben that it's best to just listen to what she says. Beru knows best. She looks down at Luke and brushes her hand over the fuzz of his hair. "What am I going to do with all you boys?" she asks him. Then she has to get a fresh towel as he hiccups up some of his breakfast. 

What indeed, she thinks.

* * *

On the third day, Luke's fever finally breaks. 

They all end up exhausted heap together in bed. We don't have another room, had been Owen's gruff reasoning, and Ben was too tired to protest any longer. He's grateful for the warmth of the man along his back and easily matches his breathing to theirs, and falls into a dreamless sleep. 

Ben wakes early. A habit drilled into him by a lifetime of Temple habits and then the War. The room is still cool, and he can sense the sleepy presence of Luke, back to normal. He should be getting back. Back to his mission, back to the distance he'd been building between them, but as he slides his feet out from the bed and makes to rise, hands reach out to grab him. One around his wrist, another in the hem of his tunic. 

"Stay," they whisper. 

Ben takes one long breath in and exhales into the quiet morning air. Then he lets himself be pulled back down into their arms, to surround himself with feelings of relief and love and fond exasperation. He's pulled into the space between them now, and relaxes into the warm space they make for him. 


End file.
